Examine the deductibility of these items listed below:

1. Expenses amounting to $1,800 incurred by a Melbourne Surgeon attending an International Congress of Surgeons in Hobart, including: registration fee $650, hotel expense $850 and fares $300.

2. $120,000 paid to construct a building, completed on 1 May of the current year, for use solely in relation to advanced robotics research relating to the company’s products. Would your answer be different if the building was to be used half for advanced robotics research and half for quality control testing?

3. Registration charges and fees of $1,750 in connection with the grant of a patent and the registration of a copyright. The patent and copyright are for a period of 20 years

4. A donation of $95 paid by a taxpayer to a local ambulance center (which provided free ambulance service), on the stipulation that the taxpayer would be given, under a reciprocal arrangement among ambulance centers, free ambulance service in any locality in which the taxpayer subsequently resided.

5. Jimmy is an air traffic controller employed by the Department of Aviation. Jimmy holds a pilot’s license and during the current income year incurs $3,500 expenses in keeping up the flying hours necessary for the retention of that license and $2,800 expenses in obtaining a higher grade of license. There is no statutory or contractual requirement on controllers to obtain a flying license and the holding of a pilot’s license and ongoing flight training are not essential prerequisites for promotion. However, the Department of Aviation acknowledges that flying qualifications and experience help controllers to keep to date with developments in their field and increase their knowledge and ability in their job.

Required:
For each of the five items, discuss whether the following are allowable as deductions under s8 1 or any of the specific deduction provisions of ITAA 1997, excluding Division 40 and 43 of ITAA 1997. Number each of your responses.